Consolidated Edison (ED) Downgraded by Zacks Investment Research to Hold

Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

According to Zacks, “Consolidated Edison has a favorable rate decisions history by regulatory authorities, which will likely encourage it to invest more in infrastructure improvements. It continues to follow a systematic capital investment plan for infrastructure development and the expansion of renewable assets. The company is also making notable progress in generating renewable energy. Moreover, the company outperformed the broader industry in past one year. However, the company faces interest rate risk owing to variable rate debt and to new debt financing needed to fund capital requirements. Also, adverse decisions by the commissions in pending regulatory cases may negatively impact Consolidated Edison’s earnings.”

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A number of other analysts have also commented on ED. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Consolidated Edison from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Evercore ISI lowered Consolidated Edison from an in-line rating to an underperform rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Consolidated Edison in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Bank of America started coverage on Consolidated Edison in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. They issued a buy rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. Finally, ValuEngine raised Consolidated Edison from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, November 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Consolidated Edison currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $80.95.

Shares of Consolidated Edison (ED) traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $81.82. The stock had a trading volume of 2,289,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,057,400. The firm has a market cap of $25,350.00, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.72 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Consolidated Edison has a 12 month low of $72.13 and a 12 month high of $89.70.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by ($0.07). Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. research analysts predict that Consolidated Edison will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 14th. Consolidated Edison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.17%.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ED. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 1.8% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 560,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,274,000 after acquiring an additional 9,825 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 16.2% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 39,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,257,000 after acquiring an additional 5,567 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,562,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 129.8% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 380,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,726,000 after acquiring an additional 214,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Consolidated Edison by 2.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,821,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,763,600,000 after acquiring an additional 516,860 shares in the last quarter. 55.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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